Awards season has arrived! A deluge of quality films will fall almost daily between September 1st and December 31st. In order to qualify for consideration of an Oscar, a film must run one week in New York City and Los Angeles. So you could buckle yourself into a theater seat for the next three months
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The Show that Keeps On Going
By Stanley Wlodyka The artists of A Diamond Jubilee are vastly different from one another, but they each can reveal the secrets to longevity and a fulfilling life. By the year 2050, experts predict that the segment of the population over the age of 60 will more than double, jumping from 900 million to 2.1
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Theater Review: Days to Come
By Eric Uhlfelder So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile. For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten
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Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
By Robert Heide In the world of film, during the month of August, a new documentary called Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood opened in New York City at IFC on 6th Avenue, the Chelsea Cinemas, and 100 theatres across the land. It appears to be at this juncture certainly the most important, riveting,
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Andy’s and Everyone Else’s 90th Birthday
By John Gilman They were celebrating Andy Warhol’s 90th birthday August 9th with a big champagne gala at the Whitney Museum, and when we were personally invited by Claire K. Henry, assistant curator of the Andy Warhol Film Project, as her special guests, we were told to dress up in a gala Warhol manner. First
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Italytime to Present Three Eyes on Pinocchio in Spanish
By Jane Heil Usyk On November 7, 8, 9, and 10, the cultural organization Italytime will present a new version of Italy’s most famous character, Pinocchio, in Spanish. The show begins at 8 p.m. and is suitable for adults as well as children. Maureen Gonzalez, who translated the play, says, “One of Italytime’s goals since
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Tom Savage: Writer, Poet, and Playwright
By Lorraine Gibney On Saturday, August 11th, I had the privilege of interviewing writer, poet, and playwright Tom Savage at the LGBT Community Center on West 13th Street. For more than three hours Mr. Savage freely discussed his fascinating escapades as a prolific writer during the 1960s—when he hobnobbed with the most iconic figures and
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Preview of IFC Coming Attraction
Opening on October 5th at the IFC Center on 6th Avenue (at West 3rd Street) will be another hot documentary film directed by Matt Tyrnauer (I wrote about his documentary, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, on page 22 of this issue) on the legendary discotheque Studio 54 where sex, drugs, and Donna Summer
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Great Theatre From Home
I have been involved in An American In Paris from the very start. This musical, its cast, production team, as well as the producers, have been one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. From the opening night in Paris at Theatre du Chatelet, to opening night here in New York at the Palace,
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“The Glory of God is a Human Being Fully Alive.”
By Fr. Graeme Napier Thus, down the ages, sings St. Irenaeus, the second-century bishop from the little Aegean sea town of Smyrna who had heard the preaching of the soon-to-be-martyred Polycarp—a disciple of John the gospel-maker, to whom St. John’s in the Village is dedicated. Before I went to Oxford to study mathematics and philosophy
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Driven
By Roberta Curley She stoops like those toughened memories saddling her back unashamed of the fabric she braided even pondering a comeback her blood courses and races like a thoroughbred in its paces but her breath whirrs and hums sleep bearing peace which numbs tho vintage consolation prizes ring – a flaming peach sunset in
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Celebrating Mae West at the Jefferson Market Library
By Michele Gouveia “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” —Mae West With her double entendres, voluptuous figure, and distinct Brooklyn accent, Mae West became one of the most famous and imitated women of the 20th century. This year marks the 125th anniversary of her birth, and to celebrate the
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Vacation!
By Christina Winholt Do you want to take your vacation twice? How about a dozen times? Is it possible to relive your vacation as many times as you would like if you practice being in the moment while you are laying by the pool, hiking your favorite mountain, or seeing the sights? One of the
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Theater Review: Conflict – When Words and Honor Mattered
By Eric Uhlfelder Are we totally responsible for our lot in life? Or can circumstances be so extreme as to make a mess of the strongest wills? Who is lucky enough to be forgiven; who is fortunate enough to get a second chance? Where does lasting sustenance come from? These are just several of the
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Celebrating Tom O’Horgan at La MaMa E.T.C.
By John Gilman On Saturday June 16 LaMaMa E.T.C. celebrated the life and career of the late Tom O’Horgan at the Ellen Stewart Theatre at 66 East 4th Street. O’Horgan was famous for his direction of Hair on Broadway as well as Jesus Christ Superstar and Lenny. The acclaimed musical Hair had a book and
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Broadway Babes Bette & Bernadette: The Saga of Hello Dolly and Big Bucks Broadway
By Robert Heide Bette Midler returns in Hello Dolly on July 17th in one of the best musicals ever to grace Broadway. Midler won the best actress Tony Award in June, 2017 for her right-on performance as Dolly Levi, a role originally portrayed by the incredible Carol Channing when the musical first opened in January
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World Premiere Screening – American Tap
American Tap Directed by Mark Wilkinson Film Society of Lincoln Center/ Dance on Camera 46 Friday July 20 8:45 pm Walter Reade Theater 165 West 65th Street Make America Great Again? This slogan has left most of us pondering “When exactly was that?” It is, in fact, a catch-all phrase designed to coerce the listener
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WestView News Celebrates Women’s Scientific Accomplishments— Part II: Ada Lovelace
By John Early Cautioned about her father’s “most strange and dreadful history,” Ada, Countess Lovelace “declared that she could relate to her father’s defiance of authority.” Referring to his “misused genius,” she wrote to her mother, “If he has transmitted to me any portion of that genius, I would use it to bring out great
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Doc Suture’s Ghosts
By James Lincoln Collier Ordinarily, I don’t like to bother Doc Suture about simple illnesses like the sniffles or a sunburn, but the six-year-old was whooping like a crane, so I turned up at Doc Suture’s office. He gave the child a cursory glance. “These things go away in time,” he said. “I’m awfully busy
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But for The Grace of God
By Lawrence J. Phelan, Captain, Infantry A grey watery dawn was breaking over the bleak buildings of the Brooklyn Army Base when I reported there for a new and unaccustomed duty. I was taking a soldier home—a soldier now incapable of finding his own way, incapable of speech, incapable of action. A soldier who had
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A Tribute to Two Soldiers
By Stephanie Phelan At the start of the U.S. fighting in WWII, my uncle, Larry Phelan, served as a lieutenant in the army’s famous First Infantry Division. During the invasion of Sicily, in July of 1943, his unit was overrun by Germans and he became a prisoner of war. A letter to my aunt from
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A Long Ago Lesson on the Cost of War
By David S. Kerr I must have been six, or maybe just a little older, but I was with my Mom, Dad, and Grandmother, and we were visiting some dear friends of hers, the Whitakers. This was Goldsboro, North Carolina and “visiting” on Sunday afternoons after church was an important part of the culture. However,
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The Proust Center Opens at Jefferson Market Library
By Sharon Girard “For a long time I used to go to bed early.” Thus begins the 4,000 plus page masterpiece In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Some readers are lost after 50 pages. Others, bewildered and perhaps bothered, soldier on through to the end; they find themselves so thoroughly bewitched that they
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Neighbors
By Roberta Curley My neighbors start crawling around 5 a.m.— both possess two feet equivalent to four noisemakers totaling eight ballbreakers (with shoes) intergalactic attack-drones set my eardrums afire no intelligent life form would create such mire now I comprehend what ‘rude awakening’ means plus I’m plagued by shattered dreams thumps clumps bumps— even squeaks
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Play Emerges as Important Factor in Early Childhood Arts Education
By Joe Salas That children benefit from early and sustained access to music and arts education has been widely known. Music education helps develop language and reasoning, increases coordination, and builds imagination and intellectual curiosity. It’s been shown to help children maintain focus in the classroom, improve academic performance, and so much more. At the
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Broadway Hit: Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
By Robert Heide Three Tall Women is the play that won Edward Albee his third Pulitzer Prize for playwriting when it was first produced off-Broadway in 1994. His earlier Pulitzers went to A Delicate Balance (1966) and Seascape (1974). Prior to Three Tall Women, Albee was labeled by Broadway producers as “box-office poison” after works
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The Untold Love Story of the Birth of Hollywood
By John Bredin Born on Mott St., Blanche Walsh was America’s first movie star. She also played a key role in my family story. I’m on a mission to re-write Hollywood history. A very important woman has been left out. But don’t the women usually get left out? Well enough, I say, of this patriarchal
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Like a Dancer’s Brow: Buddhists and Brahmins Debate the Self
By James Marks A Five-Session Course: Thursdays, 6pm to 7:30, May 31, June 7, 14, 21, 28 Presented in the third floor Mae West Community Room of Jefferson Market Library. All classes are free and open to the public. Online registration is required. Around 2,500 years ago, during a time of bustling intellectual and spiritual
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The Washington Square Music Festival: Celebrating 60 Years of Excellence
By Peggy Friedman, Executive Director Sixty years of free music concerts is an anniversary worth celebrating! On Tuesday June 5 at 8 pm the Washington Square Music Festival opens its 60th season of presenting free classical and world music concerts in the park. Back in the ‘50s—when our newly-founded Festival wasn’t yet an annual tradition—there
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Come for the Art, Stay for the Apartment
By Katie Keith When Leslie Lalehzar overheard a woman inquiring why all the galleries in Chelsea were closed, she kindly informed her it was because it was Sunday, and all the galleries are closed on Sundays. But, she told the woman, she happened to have the keys to a very special “gallery,” one hosting a
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The Spirit of WestView
By Barry Benepe I wrote my first article for WestView just over ten years ago in March 2008. It explored the need to calm traffic around Union Square Park, one of our city’s most crowded historic public places. Thirty years earlier, I had prepared a plan called Three Parks for Community Board Five, of which,
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Mia’s Mystique—Is It Love … ?
Mia’s monthly mug shots melt scores of WestView readers to their cores as her aura bounces off the page pure charm begs viewers to engage Mia resembles Doris Day exhibiting the star’s attributes in myriad ways sporting Doris’s perennially perky smile Mia’s fetching lips curl up in style Mia’s eyes are big love valentines her
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Music! Free As The Air We Breathe
Dear George: You may understand—by the comment I made at St. Veronica—why I’d be ambivalent about how to fund concerts there and what sort of music to offer. Because the purity of emotion generated by that chamber, by what happened, under those precise circumstances (in Dec. & May—we missed others), was so intense and uplifting
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A Thank You to George
Dear Mr. Capsis, I wrote to you last in December/January regarding the gentrification of the West Village via new developments like the one on Leroy Street. I wrote, sadly, about the fact that the Village is fast becoming unaffordable for most old-time residents of the Village. I now write to you to “thank you” for
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Sounds of the Great Religions
By George Capsis The dramatic, almost theatrical interior space of St. Veronica invites imaginative uses and we came up with The Sounds of the Great Religions, a survey of great musical moments from the world’s great religions. Having been exposed to the Greek Orthodox church (my father was Greek, my mother a Lutheran German), I
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Celebrating the Legacy of Joe Cino’s Legendary Caffe Cino Coffee House Theater
By Robert Heide On Sunday, April 22nd at 6 p.m., 50 years after the closing of the legendary coffee house theater Caffe Cino on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village, now officially considered the first off off Broadway theater, a panel convened, moderated by theatre critic, Charles Isherwood. The panel consisted of mostly playwrights who had
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The Artist in His Studios
By Jane Heil Usyk My husband, Michael Usyk, an artist, has had three studios in his life, not counting the one he has at home now in a corner of our living room, which he describes as “two-hundred square inches.” It’s only good for small pictures, and that limits the artist. His first studio was
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Theater Review: The Seafarer, at The Irish Repertory Theatre
The Devil’s Disciple By Eric Uhlfelder It was his remarkable portrayal of a historical Northern officer during the US civil war, Colonel Robert Shaw, that first brought my attention to Matthew Broderick. His strong, understated performance of this tragic character in the highly acclaimed movie Glory has stayed with me ever since its premier in
